The Hindu : International : A film on the cell phone

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 01, 2006

International

International

A film on the cell phone

Grandparents' love story as winning movie The film portrays his grandfather playing a game with his grandmother while reading the newspaper

ITHACA: A film in an emerging medium and genre and starring a student's grandparents was named the winner of a college's contest for 30-second movies shot entirely on cell phones.

Ithaca College junior Mike Potter won the $5,000 grand prize on Monday in the first CellFlix Festival.

In the piece titled `Cheat,' his grandfather plays a game with his grandmother while reading the Sunday newspaper. He reads a headline and rewards her with a kiss if she guesses correctly whether it is true or false. "I've got to tell you something. Sometimes I cheat," the grandfather says in a solo shot, a boyish grin growing across his face. "It's a 30-second love story, with a build-up and a payoff," said one of the judges. Another judge, the Bolivian filmmaker Rodrigo Bellott, described the film as "Contagious. Lovable. Effective."

The film was chosen from 10 finalists. The contest was open to high school and college students across the world. There were 178 submissions.

The rules were simple: There must be a story, a narrative and sound, and the film must be shot on a cell phone. Editing could be done digitally on a computer or on a cell phone with editing functions.

The submissions were reviewed by a panel of film students and faculty members, which selected 10 finalists.

The two judges selected the winner from the 10 finalists in a "blind" review, without any outside information on the entry.

On the Net, it is at www.cellflixfestival.org — AP

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